Averting catastrophic tuberculosis costs in an Indian state: integration of Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka with National Tuberculosis Elimination Program

Suresh G Shastri; Pooja Sancheti; Sharath Burugina Nagaraja; Gagana G Dayananda; Pujari K Srinivas; Murugesh Jayaprakash; Shivashankara N Ninge Gowda; Aditi Krishnamurthy; Balu P Srinivasa; Anil Singarajipura; Randeep Devendiran

doi:10.1016/j.lansea.2023.100327

Averting catastrophic tuberculosis costs in an Indian state: integration of Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka with National Tuberculosis Elimination Program

Lancet Reg Health Southeast Asia. 2023 Nov 23:22:100327. doi: 10.1016/j.lansea.2023.100327. eCollection 2024 Mar.

Affiliations

¹ AB-ArK Cell, Commissionerate of Health & Family Welfare Services, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
² Department of Community Medicine, ESIC Medical College and PGIMSR, Bengaluru, India.
³ Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
⁴ Independent Public Health Consultant, Bangalore, India.
⁵ Centre for Digital Health, Artificial Intelligence, Research and Training, Basaveshwara Medical College and Hospital, Chitradurga, India.
⁶ Directorate of Health & Family Welfare Services, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

Abstract

The WHO's "End TB" initiative aims to reduce catastrophic expenses, incidence, and mortality by 90%, 80%, and 0%, respectively by 2030 and Government of India has committed to reaching these goals by 2025. Despite tremendous progress, tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the main public health issues. To limit TB transmission and expedite reduction in incidence, further measures are needed. These milestones and objectives remain aspirational until we achieve "Universal access" to high-quality TB diagnosis and treatment. The goals of the study include outlining the process of 'Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana-Arogya Karnataka' (AB-PMJAY-ArK) integration with the National TB Elimination Program (NTEP) in Karnataka, the types of TB patients who used AB-PMJAY-ArK services, and calculating the cost per TB patient at primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare facilities, both public and private, stratified by type of service. Increased coverage, elimination of treatment delays, early and free treatment, and prevention of missing patients are benefits of integrating NTEP with Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY.

Keywords: Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY-Arogya Karnataka; Health insurance; Karnataka's model; NTEP integration; TB elimination; Tuberculosis; Universal health coverage.

Publication types

Review